December 7, 2018

ONE OF W'S WORST MISTAKES:

The United Nations General Assembly has rejected a United States-sponsored resolution seeking to condemn Hamas, the Palestinian group administering the besieged Gaza Strip. [...]

Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada, an independent online news publication, said the failure of the proposal was significant.

"This resolution was really just an attempt to weaponise the UN against the Palestinian people, against their legitimate rights," he told Al Jazeera.

"The resolution itself was just transparently Israeli talking points - it didn't mention the military occupation, the siege of Gaza, Israel's daily attacks against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. I think the world saw through it and they rightly rejected it."

The Gaza Strip, home to two million Palestinians, has been under a crippling Israeli blockade for more than a decade.

In 2006, Hamas beat Fatah in parliamentary elections in the Gaza Strip and, a year later, fighting between the rival factions broke out.

When Hamas eventually took control, Israel responded by enforcing a land, sea and air blockade on Gaza and banning its residents from working in Israel.

Egypt followed suit, effectively sealing the Strip - often described as the world's largest prison - from the outside world.

Gaza's continued isolation has devastated its economy, impoverished its population and left 60 percent without jobs, adequate electricity and health services.